The new USB capabilities make it possible to add some unique features to the boards, including a PC interface, which I have dubbed Tengu, named after the Japanese demons common in folklore and literature.
As of now, the Tengu interface provides the user with three main features:
1. Secure firmware updates with AES encrypted files.
2. Bootscreen pixel editor which lets you design and save custom bootscreen images to the board, plus also save them to text files which can be sent to friends via email or forums.
3. Settings editor which loads your existing settings off the board, and then allows you to modify them, save to a text file, or load from a text file.
All the device drivers are built into Windows XP and Vista (XP users will only need .NET 2.0 or later installed), and no proprietary cables are needed to link the board to your computer since it uses standard mini-B to A cables, which are commonly used with digital cameras. To use Tengu you only need to download the application file (less than 200 Kb currently) from this website, and run it.
The Yakuza USB boards utilize some different hardware, including a new microcontroller, the PIC18F2550, which has true USB support built into it, and is capable of running up to 48 Mhz. There is nearly zero power drain while off (I can't say it's truly zero, even though it is less than 0.0001 mA). Furthermore, I have included variable oscillator programming, which changes the speed of the microcontroller on the fly depending on if more processing power is needed, or slows it down to conserve power when the user isn't doing anything. Also, due to the nature of the USB update capabilities, there will never be a "feature freeze" before or after the official release, meaning I will continue to develop, enhance, and add more things continually, and most of these changes will propagate across all the Yakuza USB boards if relevant.